1840 - Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, both aged 20, were married in St James’ Palace, London. This was the first marriage of a reigning English Queen since Queen Mary in 1554.

1986 - Halley’s Comet was last seen from Earth. It only orbits the Earth once every 75 to 76 years. Halley’s Comet is expected to pass over Earth again on July 26, 2061.

1983 - Shergar, the Aga Khan's Derby winner, was kidnapped from a stable in County Kildare, Ireland. The kidnappers demanded a ransom of £2 million, which was never paid. The horse was never seen again.

1964 - Beatlemania arrived in the United States when the Beatles landed in New York. Over 5,000 screaming fans greeted the Pan Am Flight 101 from London, UK to get a glimpse of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and George Harrison.

1958 - Seven Manchester United footballers (Busby’s Babes) died in their Airspeed AS-57 Ambassador when the plane crashed in thick snow on the runway at Munich airport during its third attempted take off.

2004 - The Morecambe Bay cockling disaster. Twenty-three Chinese cockle pickers died after becoming trapped by incoming tides off the Lancashire coast. A further 15 cockle pickers survived and the disaster left an indelible mark on all those it affected.

1911 - Rolls-Royce commissioned their famous figurehead "The Spirit of Ecstasy". He used Lord Montague’s mistress, Eleanor Thornton, as his model.

2017 - The re-opening of the Tadcaster Bridge, which is believed to date from around 1700. The bridge collapsed on 29th December 2015 after flooding that followed Storm Eva. The loss of the bridge involved a 16 mile detour and loss of businesses in the town.

1901 - Queen Victoria State Funeral in St. George’s Chapel. After the funeral her coffin lay-in-state in The Albert Memorial Chapel for two days and was then taken to The Mausoleum by The Royal Horse Artillery.